Northwest Journal.

Judge Finishing 9th Inning At Courthouse

James Geocaris, the son of Greek immigrants, had a dream as a young man.

He wanted to play major league baseball. He played baseball in high school and college, and managed to gain a slot on farm teams for the Cubs, Dodgers and Cleveland Indians.

He still has a framed newspaper clipping about his grand slam in 1949 at the age of 19 for his Cleveland farm team.

But eventually, the Indians told him he wasn't major league material--"I just couldn't hit a curve ball," he says ruefully--though they invited him to stay on in their minor league system.

"My father didn't raise any fools," says Geocaris, laughing. He took the money he earned playing minor league baseball and followed dream No. 2: Law school.

It appears it wasn't a bad career move: James Geocaris will retire this month after 20 years as the presiding judge of the northwest suburban district of Cook County Circuit Court, and 30 years as a member of the judiciary.

Judge Geocaris' memories of the 3rd Municipal District go back to the days when its judges and court personnel were truly "circuit riders."

"Everybody traveled around like gypsies, operating out of the trunks of their cars," he said. "The clerks had it especially bad. They had to go into our office in Niles and pick up the files every morning, then drive to the various suburban municipal buildings where court was held, then return to Niles in the evenings carrying as much as $10,000 in fines and their files.

"It was inconvenient, and there was no security," he recalls.

Judge Geocaris said he made it his No. 1 goal to get a central facility for the district.

He watched impatiently as courthouses rose in Maywood, Markham and Skokie during the 1970s, but it was 1986 before ground was broken for the Rolling Meadows courthouse at Euclid Avenue and Wilke Road, across from Arlington International Racecourse. And it was June 1989 before that facility finally opened its doors.

"It seemed a little strange having a courthouse right across the street from a racetrack, but beggars can't be choosers, and after wanting a courthouse for so long, I wasn't about to complain," he says.

The courthouse benefits the entire northwest suburban community, not just lawyers, court personnel and jurors, he said, pointing out the number of county offices that have opened in the building, saving suburbanites trips downtown for much of their county business.

Once the courthouse was open, the 3rd Municipal District was also able to initiate new programs, such as the court diversion program that allows those charged with minor traffic violations to avoid appearing in court by mailing in fines or going to traffic school.

Geocaris is also a big promoter of a new teen alcohol education program, which allows teens charged in alcohol-related cases to opt for counseling instead of a court appearance.

The district also took advantage of its new home to set up a full-time courtroom to deal with preliminary hearings in felonies, and to hear paternity cases, domestic violence and building violation cases.

Judge Geocaris said his next goal was to expand court services from Chicago to the surburbs.

"In those days, felonies all went down to 26th Street and California, juvenile cases all went to 1100 S. Hamilton (Ave.) and divorces all went downtown," he said.

Little by little, they've all been brought out here, and Rolling Meadows now has a full-time divorce court.

"We've got the courthouse, we've got 90 percent of the services here now, so I figured it's time to move on," he said of his recent decision to retire at age 65.

His biggest surprise about operating a courthouse in the northwest suburbs has been the number of violent crimes that have been tried in Rolling Meadows.

"I just really didn't expect those kinds of crimes to keep coming through here," he said of such high-profile cases as the (Edward) Lyng murder trial, the (Paul) Modrowski-(Robert) Faraci case and the Sikh temple stabbing, to name just a few.

"They've been so violent and so bizarre, it was really shocking to me," he said.

Geocaris, who moved to Rolling Meadows from Chicago in 1991, isn't going to hang out a "gone fishing" sign. Instead, he will join his son's law firm in Arlington Heights.